Business Sponsor Spotlight: The Apiarian Home

The Apiarian Home is a beeswax fragrance and apitherapy business based in Fort Collins. Their five fragrances are inspired by the intelligence of a honeybee colony. Each scent is drawn from a role and place within the colony. Like the hive itself, they are designed to collectively support your daily rhythms and rituals. Together, they form a holistic collection to bring the essence of nature into your home. Buy some of Apiarian Home products! A portion of every sale goes directly to PPAN!

Learn more about their amazing founder, Netta, through our exclusive interview with her below!

Tell us about why your business decided to include protecting pollinators in its mission?

I grew up with all insects as my sworn enemies after getting stung by the pool in second grade. So, The Apiarian Home coming from a place of deep love for bees is kind of wild when I think about it. A few years ago, I was dealing with some health challenges and had the intuition to turn to the hive. I started consuming honey, propolis, bee pollen, and other hive products, and I was amazed by how much they helped me recover. That curiosity led me to beekeeping, and once I started, there was no turning back. The more I learned, the more I realized that what bees create is pure magic in physical form.

When I started this company, I knew that sourcing materials from hives meant giving back, too. The bees support us with their medicine, their labor, and their intelligence, so protecting the habitats they need to survive is the least I could do. And what helps honeybees also helps other pollinators as well. When someone buys a product from The Apiarian Home and is inspired by the bee wisdom, that changes the energy in how they connect to my mission. Knowledge creates reverence, and reverence creates action.

Of all the wonderful nonprofits out there, why did you decide to partner with PPAN?

I first discovered PPAN when I was working for a benefit corporation that was also a 1% for the Planet member. The CEO had this fantastic program that allowed us to choose an organization of our choosing to support, and this notification came right when I was getting into beekeeping. I was completely buzzed about honeybees, so I started scouring the 1% for the Planet directory and lo and behold, PPAN popped up! It was a no-brainer.

I distinctly remember Emily and Joyce both sending me a heartfelt thank you email with an offer for deeper connection. I just loved the personalized touch and sincerity in their outreach, and upon further research of the site, I had deep respect for their efforts to protect pollinators. After my time with that company ended, Emily connected with me on LinkedIn, and we finally had a chance to talk. I shared my vision of supporting PPAN through my own company, with the long-term goal of supporting them in big ways. I appreciate how friendly and informative they are, especially as someone with still so much to learn in the pollinator space. Their devotion to both people and pollinators is exactly the philosophy that drives The Apiarian Home.

What is your favorite product or service that you hope more people will purchase in order to grow your business and grow your donations to PPAN?

Right now, it is the beeswax home fragrances! I am offering five scents inspired by the honeybees, including the Hive, Brood, Worker, Drone, and Queen. Each one is designed to support different rhythms in daily life. Customers can purchase what speaks to them, and I developed a scent quiz that helps people decide a best match to who they are. Or, they can try them all for a sensory journey that moves through the colony. Every purchase includes a portion that supports PPAN, so whether you choose select scents or the full collection, the bees benefit.

My fragrances are formulated with ingredients derived from natural sources, starting with a base infused with raw beeswax and layered with essential oils and resins. One pound of beeswax requires honeybees to consume roughly eight pounds of honey, representing the energy gathered from more than 16 million flower visits. It is a precious ingredient, embodying one of the many ways that bees are indeed the alchemists of nature.

What's something people would be surprised or intrigued to know about you or your business?

I am a horror film devotee! Every October, my husband Matt and I road trip to the Telluride Horror Show, and it is one of my favorite traditions. I love seeing the creativity and talent from lesser-known filmmakers. Matt and I even made a short horror film last year. It was so bad it, but we had a blast. I am currently writing another thriller-esque screenplay that involves honeybees, which is very fun. It’s another creativity outlet that feeds my soul.

What's a favorite memory or experience with a pollinator?

My birthday was in February, and it was an unseasonably warm day. Perhaps the new norm? Ack. I decided to forego celebration in favor of having an extra day to work through some big tasks for launching my company. I was also in the peak season of taking three online bee classes, a business marketing cohort, and getting my apitherapy certification. While all good things, I was feeling a sense of stress and overwhelm.

As I was working in the kitchen, worrying over my to-do list, a bee flew right through the open door and swirled around me! I knew she was not from my hive, so I am not sure where she came from, but she hung out with me for several minutes before flying off. I remember exhaling as the stress left my body! That little bee visit brought me back to my why and totally recentered me. The bees are always communicating in some way, and I do my best to listen.